AUBURN HILLS -- Freshman point guard Spike Albrecht doesn't play a whole lot. He doesn't score a lot of points, nor dish a lot of assists, and he's never dunked in his life. At least not on a 10-foot rim.

He plays behind a national player of the year candidate.

So, don't fault VCU for not knowing who he is.

"Based on my appearance, everyone thought, 'Ah, little white kid, we're going to get up into him and start talking stuff,'" the 5-foot-11 Albrecht said.

"That motivates me. I just want to go out there and prove people wrong. They were talking, we were talking. Everyone was having a good time."

Especially Michigan, with an assist from Albrecht.

The fourth-seeded Wolverines butchered fifth-seeded VCU 78-53 on Saturday in the third round of the NCAA tournament. They advance to their first Sweet 16 since 1994, facing the winner of Sunday's game between No. 1 Kansas and No. 8 North Carolina.

Michigan (28-7) got there by shredding the Rams' vaunted full-court press, but not without a few blips. Point guard extraordinaire Trey Burke committed seven turnovers, a season high, and had to rely on teammates to advance the ball up the court.

He provided a career-high 15 minutes off the bench, mostly playing with Burke also on the floor. That not only provided an extra ballhandler to advance the ball against a tough press, but allowed Burke to get a breather even while remaining on the court.

"Those (VCU) guards are really good at turning people over, and just stealing the ball from you, so we knew that Trey could not handle that the whole day," Michigan coach John Beilein said. "Burke played (37) minutes, but just if (Albrecht) plays off the ball, he can stand there for a second.

"Anybody's who's ever played basketball, when you're dribbling and people are doubling you and people are doing all kinds of things, it is tiring. So that was huge for Spike to be able to come in and just give him some rest."

VCU gave Burke some space in the backcourt, respecting his explosiveness off the dribble. But with Albrecht, the Rams got up into his hip, not showing the same kind of respect.

He noticed, and used that as motivation.

That's part of the reason why the typically stoic Albrecht shimmied a little dance after hitting a 3-pointer in the second half.

"I was kind of pumped up," he said with a smirk. "When teammates see me getting hyped, then it kind of brings everyone's energy level up, because they know I'm kind of a quiet guy. When they see me getting crazy, they know it must be getting serious."

Albrecht finished with three points, two assists and one rebound in his 15 minutes. Under normal circumstances, those are unremarkable numbers.

But it's the NCAA tournament, where every board and dime matters a little more. And it's VCU, which advanced to the Final Four just two years ago with this defensive system -- a system that exposes teams that don't have multiple ballhandlers.

The Rams took away Burke at times. But Tim Hardaway Jr. was there to lend a hand, as was guard Nik Stauskas.

And then Albrecht.

"The problem is you don't get to see him very much because we have Trey Burke and he obviously does a lot for us, but Spike doesn't lack confidence," Stauskas said. "When he goes out there, he's going to play with a little bit of swag.

"People attack him because they think he's just some small white kid, so, 'I can take the ball from him.' But you saw today, he got out there, he has all the moves Trey has and he handled the pressure great."

Make no mistake, Albrecht remains a role player. He's never scored more than six points in a game, never dished more than two assists. He averages just 7.2 minutes per game.

But when he does play, he has an impact, even if it's sometimes quiet. And his team knows the role has played during this remarkable season.

And that's why, after Michigan clinched its first bid to the Sweet 16 in 19 years, it wasn't the All-American Burke who stood on a chair in the locker room, leading the Wolverines in singing the fight song. Nor was it Tim Hardaway Jr. Nor even the game's high scorer and rebounder, Mitch McGary.

It was Albrecht who got that honor. The 7-minutes-a-game white guy who doesn't do much besides get the job done.

"He was standing on the chair, singing The Victors, because our team loves him," Beilein said. "They love playing with him. He did a wonderful job."